French Vanilla Assam

While going through my stash the other day, I came upon a few teas that I was apparently hoarding and hiding from myself … including a full package of this that I bought from the first blending. Yay! I thought I had finished this off … So glad I get to enjoy more of it.

This is easily one of the best blends that Frank created … however, I must say that this first blend was superior to that which I received in the Christmas sampler box from 2011. That batch from the sampler box was good, but this … this was great. I notice that time has taken a bit of a toll, but, not so much that I’d lower the rating on this by much if this was my first sampling of it. I considered this to be a 99 with that first pouch, now, after two years, I’d consider this to be somewhere like 93 or 94. Time has taken a toll, but not much of one.

Still rich, creamy, vanilla-y and deliciously yum.

I have increased the rating on this, because I have deemed it Frank’s best blend to date. Yep, even better than the Chocolate Banana Rooibos. Even better than the Banana Peach Green. Even better than any other tea he has made. This is amazing.

And the thing that surprises me the most is that I’m getting all excited about a VANILLA tea. But this is no ordinary vanilla tea. The combination of the Assam and the vanilla flavor creates one of the most satisfying tea experiences I’ve ever had.

It’s awesome. AWESOME. Amazingly awesome at that.

Backlog:

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, 52Teas sent to me … my very favorite tea that 52Teas made this year (that doesn’t have tomato).

I love this tea… but I have to agree with the other notes from today regarding this tea …. it is different this go around… and I think I like the first batch better than this one. I shall have to dig out my pouch from my stash and try it to see… perhaps I shall do so today.

Anyway, here is my article for today: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/12/21/on-the-eighth-day-of-christmas-52teas-sent-to-me/

Yum! It’s probably a bit late in the evening to be having an Assam, but, oh well. I just baked some cookies (peanut butter blossoms) and I thought it would go well with them. It does. This is my kind of christmas dessert.

I’m up much earlier than I want to be and I won’t have the opportunity to head back to bed after getting the little one off to school, so I decided that I better get myself some liquid motivation.

Oh goodness, this is so good. If I could rate it higher than 100 I would. It’s just that awesome.

OK, what the heck?! This cuppa from the 12 Days of Christmas blend from 52Teas tastes entirely different than the blend from months ago. Did my tastes change?!

Now I taste much more of the vanilla and cream goodness described by other teaists. I also let it steep for the length of the cup so more of that delicious vanilla flavor could be enjoyed.

Previously unrated. Now, highly rated. Bizarre!

Tried this for a second time with boiling water and sadly achieved a pretty similar result to last time. The smell was lovely and promising, but there was a definite gross soapiness in the sip that hid anything tasty. Amanda, I’m wondering if you got a weird batch – you didn’t seem to like it either, yet everyone else is crazy over it. I do also have a sample from LiberTEAS that I will hopefully test out soon so I can compare the two – hoping for a better result!

(P.S. Those of you who I have received tea from, don’t be concerned if you see me acknowledging someone else for a tea you sent me some of – I have a few doubles, but have kept things separate so I know what’s from whom!)

This time, I’m using the sample from LiberTEAS to see how it compares to that from Amanda.

To start, the tea looks different. There are flower(?) pieces, and petals that were definitely not in the other sample. It smells similarly good though, both in dry and steeped form. This version may smell a touch better, but I did enjoy the scent of the not-so-nice tasting cup either.

Tasting this, I’m fairly certain that Amanda got a dud batch!! No soapy flavour whatsoever, but instead a malty black tea with vanilla. Yum! I did taste this flavour in the other sample, but it was masked by that soapiness. A little weak, but I realize that I brewed it in a larger mug than usual and neglected to compensate for that in terms of dry tea. There’s a touch of astringency, so I think that increasing infusion time would lead to Bad Things. I will have to try this again a bit stronger, but this definitely bumps up the rating a fair bit. It’s too weak to hit the list of favourites yet though.

LiberTEAS – was the sample you gave me from the Christmas Sampler or a separately purchased pouch? Did anyone else notice a soapy flavour in their tea from the Christmas Sampler? I’m just curious. Seems a shame that some people may not have experienced the true flavours of this tea.

ETA: Second infusion good as well, also for 3 minutes. Quick note – the cup I left sitting at the office overnight, from the weird batch, actually tasted much better the next day, completely cooled. (Yes, I probably shouldn’t have drank it, but I was curious.) No soapiness, and I could tell it was the same tea, but it definitely was lacking something in comparison to the other batch I have. Oh well!

Mmmm, this one is really well balanced with the vanilla, creamy smooth delicious :-)
I used up my last bit of this one tonight but it was so good.

This morning I woke up early, for no reason in particular. Since I was up I decided to make myself an early breakfast and a nice big cup of tea. My tea of chioce was this one (yes… I still have some left from my 12 days of Christmas boxes… In my defense, I did have to boxes…). Some people (Angrboda in particular) loved this one, I enjoyed it, but definitely not loved it).

I brewed it nice and strong and added some of my home made latte mix (delicious if I may say so myself…). Since this was the second envelope of it that I opened I got the chance to compare them. There was more flowers in this one, and even though it has sat around a while, I got a pretty strong vanilla smell.

The tea was dark and creamy, and once I added the home made latte mix is was a pretty enjoyable cup of tea! No sparks are flying and no hearts are floating around the room, but I am happy with how this brew turned out.

Right after I drank it, it was time for ice skating training. Yes, even after not being able to walk for a few days, I decided to go back and train once more. I did more than last time, so I am probably am going to be even more sore than last week, but it is really worth it. I feel so free on the ice. Ice skating and tea all in one morning and doggy and boyfriend in the afternoon. I loved this Satrday!

And that, as they say, is that. I’ve had a number of cups of this tea and I just am not in love with it the way I had hoped, or even that I was in the beginning. I gave the remains to a vanilla loving coworker and have freed myself of guilt.

When I look for a vanilla tea, I want a caramel sort of vanilla. I found this to be a coconut sort of vanilla. (I don’t know if I am the only one but I find strong vanilla smells and taste to be coconut-esque, and I don’t like coconut). Rather than force myself to like it, I’ve decided (quite rightly, I think!) to re-gift it to someone else who might enjoy it more. I wish I weren’t so prone to falling out of love with teas.. : (

Well. Once upon a time, I had a pouch of this tea. I found it too boldly vanilla, almost coconutty – My pouch moved along to a proper vanilla loving person and I moved on with my day. But, then came Christmas and the 12 Teas from Frank. Yesterday was the dreaded Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush (I loathe coconut) so I took the day off, looking forward to today. Imagine my unease when I smelled today’s blend. Luckily, I’m liking this. I learned from past mistakes and went light on the steep time, and I have a nice smooth vanilla, with no traces of coconut. Of course, the re-blend is likely a bit different from the original, but I am glad to enjoy this cuppa. I am moving the rating up a bit based on today’s success, but don’t regret my passing along of the original pouch. Merry Christmas, all!

We had some of this for breakfast and the beau (surprisingly) wanted to give it a go. I gave it a boil, then 4 minutes steep. It came out quite dark, and very strongly smelling of vanilla. The beau claims his cup is a little bitter, but that’s because he got the second up and any dregs would have gone to him (I always pour him the second :D). Definitely a yummy tea. I was surprised he wanted to try it, since he’s not a huge fan of vanilla comoro, but I think the over-the-top vanilla smell had him intrigued.

Steeped a second (smaller) cup later on. Quite delicious – not as strong, but the vanilla flavour still very present. Could do a third (weak) cup, but won’t. For regular sized cups, I think I could get three solid steeps though. Huzzah!

Tea of the afternoon….

Very good! It makes me want to check out more varieties of Assam. The vanilla is light and somewhat floraly.

Steeped in the normal way….

My tea of the morning…though really the french vanilla part feels more coffee than tea.

I can’t even believe the tea of the week this week. Almond Joy in a darn cup. They’re my favorite candies, too. I’m trying to hold out in case the Blueberry Cream Cheese danish comes back so I can just buy everything at once…and I shouldn’t even do this because I’m trying to abstain until 2/26.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO STOP MYSELF FROM BUYING TEA???

I don’t know why I forget about this tea. But it seems like what usually happens is I go through my standard favorites, then I want something new, and then I look in my cupboard on here and remember I have some and usually get up to make a cup as soon as this happens.

It’s like my ace in the hole or something. But I’m glad for it this morning, after the disaster my tongue just dealt with. Prep details – 2 tsp. leaf in 10 oz. of water with a splash of milk. Used the below parameters for steeping.

This is amazing. Maybe it tastes even better comparatively, but right now it is REALLY hitting the spot. A lovely vanilla/caramel/custard (I think someone used the term honeyed and they are totally right) with the perfect chewiness. It’s almost coffee-like in texture, too, which is a huge plus as I love tea with body to it. Honestly, if I put a pinch of salt in this I’d probably get the salted caramel flavor I envisioned from David’s Tea.

And it was in my stash this whole time. That’s kind of embarrassing.

Hmmm… this isn’t in the permanent collection with 52teas, though. Does anyone know if Frank still does the bulk (1 pound) reblends? I’d love to have it with me forever..

This tasted a bit weaker today, despite using the same parameters I always do. Maybe it’s just getting old (WAH) or maybe I used more water without realizing it?

Getting down to the end of this one – but I have a few 52Teas coming my way that I’m super excited about. Yay for Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish!!!

Latte style. 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, 1 heaping tbsp. leaf, and a splash of coconut nectar to sweeten.

I didn’t really need the sweetener, and I was hoping the coconut would work better with the vanilla than it did. Still – it always disappears from my cup pretty fast, and it’s a great way to start my morning!

Had this a couple of times over the blackout weekend, because it was one of three I brought with me on our trip.

Lets see.. Friday I had this at my parents house with milk and it was good – a little thin but I didn’t have my measuring stuff with me.

Saturday and Sunday my boyfriends mother kept picking it up to smell it but would never outright ask for a cup. The mugs at our rental house were huge so it seemed weak both times I made it for myself, but milk gave it a thicker mouthfeel and I was just happy to have it in my life again (thank you iHeartTeas!) so no real complaints.

His mom never did ask for a cup, but since boyfriend will be gone up to visit them the rest of the week (I have to work- new job and all) I gave him a couple of bags with a good amount of leaf and steeping instructions. Asheville’s colder than here, and I’ll be getting a pound of this soon (At least I think so…) so I can spare it. I just hope she likes it, given the palava with the chai earlier Saturday….

Still not 100% with whatever this stomach bug thing is…but I need to hydrate (even if tea is a diuretic) and I love my morning black tea. So I went for this with some added milk.

I couldn’t have tolerated sweetener even if I wanted to, but it was nice to get the idea of something sweet on my tongue. And at least my taste buds aren’t off, so I can enjoy it…

3 tsp. leaf to 500 ml. water in the Breville at below parameters. Added half and half and sugar.

This is a very coffee-esque tea to me, and I think it’s mostly because French Vanilla is a popular flavoring in coffee moreso than tea. And because when I used to drink coffee I drank it with milk and sugar, so it really looks and smells the part once it’s been prepped the way I like it.

Fortunately its not coffee – and as strong as the vanilla is at the front of the sip, the Assam comes in just as strong to finish and remind me that it is tea, and a very well balanced one at that. Perfect for a breakfast wake up!

It was so good yesterday that I had to have more today. But the bad news is I probably only have enough for one more cup. :(. I’ll be shooting an email to Frank soon to get that taken care of (hopefully!)

Anyone want to split a pound of this with me – if it turns out he can do a reblend?

1.5 tsp in 10 oz water.
I just love how you get the vanilla flavor FIRST, and black tea as an afterthought.
It’s so smooth and the mouthfeel is perfect- this is a thick tea even without additives. It is definitely a morning starter drink, which is great, because that’s how I’m drinking it!

Life has been stressy lately.

And unfortunately for me, stress is inversely proportional to tea consumption. But I made a point to stop and have some tonight, anyway.

It was a wise decision – and the almond milk I added (instead of regular milk) really takes this up a notch. It becomes almost caramel like in flavor. A perfect balm for my nerves.

3 tsp. leaf to 500 ml. water in my Breville at below parameters.

I tried a sip of this plain and got a very heavy vanilla (yum) and very astringent (not so yum) tea base. So, milk and sugar were added to make this my afternoon study snack.

This really comes alive with additives! It actually reminds me of coffee (probably the french vanilla flavor), which I haven’t had in a very long time since I’m particularly sensitive to the caffeine in it. Anyway, this tea is a very welcome drink as I sit and listen to the wind whipping around outside the house.

P.S. One week until the 12 teas of Christmas! I cannot wait!!!

This steeping was actually a blend – boyfriend wanted the earl grey creme from teavana and I wanted more of a plain vanilla and with a thicker texture, So, 1 heaping tsp of this to 2 level tsp. of earl grey in 500 ml. water, at below parameters and voila!

I got what I wanted for sure – a thicker tea, with a heavier vanilla. The bergamot is shifted to the background a bit more, where I like it. I think I have a sensitivity to it if there’s too much there, so even though I like the flavor, it’s better when it’s a bit muted.

I like this with no sweetener or milk; it stands just fine on it’s own, with a cookie or two (those snickerdoodles I made are CRACK).

I would say this was a success, and may try to replicate it again in the future. :)

3 tsp. leaf to 16 oz. water in my Breville.

Yes I am drinking an Assam at night – gotta study for my exams! I had the first cup with milk and sugar and it was perfect. On the second go around I went with just sugar and realized how much the milk helped smooth out the astringency of the cup. Hopefully a shorter steep time will cut out the astringence next time.

It’s super robust with a nice balance of that custard vanilla flavor, though, which I am glad of. It’s a breakfast and dessert tea rolled into one, and makes me enjoy having to put in these late night hours.

Mmm..I knew this one would lend itself well to a latte.
3 tsp. leaf to 16 oz liquid.
Custardy and sweet, but still definitely a tea. Quite a good tea, at that.

Ugh – 5:30 wake ups suck. I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, and this part of clinicals is killing me. Only one more week til we get a week off, though, so I guess I can hang on a bit longer.
Unfortunately, waking up early and collapsing in bed about 9:00 to do it all over again means that there isn’t much time in my life for tea.
So this weekend morning, a rainy, chilly March morning, I decided to break out some more of the French Vanilla Assam – simply because every time I walk by it in my kitchen I have to inhale the scent. I LOVE the smell of this dry leaf.
At a lower temperature I got more of a balance between the vanilla and the tea, and I think I’ll keep it that way. I need sugar in it, but I think that’s more because I just need sugar in most of my black teas.
I will definitely enjoy this one while I’ve got it. :)

So when I had this in the 12 days of Christmas last year, I didn’t care for it at all. I bought up a bunch of 52teas stuff from KeenTeaThyme and some of hers was in there. I figured if it’s still going to taste good, it will now with having an electric kettle. And it worked out! I actually kind of enjoyed it, but it’s still not my favorite vanilla. Of course it’d be hard to take the place of Vanille des Iles.

It’s alright, I like the Assam, and the vanilla did finally come through for me. But I wouldn’t want it beyond this honestly.

I decided I’d give this one more shot at a lower temperature, and sent the rest of it off in a swap so that I can remove teas from my spreadsheet of tea instead of constantly adding them…which I did today. A lot. I always know it’s a good day when there’s a mail locker key in my box.

It’s better with a lower water temperature, but it’s still not that vanilla-y for me. Maybe it’s me.

I’ve been drinking this one so much over the past few days that I dreamt about it last night. In my dream, I was in a swanky tea shop where this tea was encased in a beautiful jewelry-style box. The box had elegant golden legs on it and the tea itself was in a bottom drawer, while information on the tea, and maybe even a tea ball, was found underneath the lid. Definitely meant as a gift, and I checked on the bottom of the box and it was $23.95.

The best part was next to it there was another tea: white chocolate, macadamia, and coconut (a black tea, most likely). Frank, could you pretty please make this?

Back to the French Vanilla Assam. Love the maltiness combined with the warm, velvety vanilla. It’s a rich vanilla bean explosion of awesomeness. I’m upping my rating.